Invest in ME supporters made March another marvellous mixed bag of awareness & fundraising for the charity’s biomedical research funds for myalgic encephalomyelitis. Thank you each & every one!
Actor Jon Campling took along his Invest in ME charity collection box to another Comic Con event, this time in Oxford: “Huge Thanx 2 all who #rattledmybox” Next stop Scarborough!
Joe Jarvis and Kelly Samuels went sugar-free.
Elaine English completed her blog marathon for charity – 27 short blogs in 27 days on the theme of gratitude, and well worth a read if you missed them through the month.
Kirsty Rankin and Chris Dusgate kindly celebrated their birthdays by inviting donations to Invest in ME Research Funds, including a very generous £1200 to the Invest in ME Rituximab Trial Fund.
Amanda Kayes & Richard Pughe reached the summit of Kilimanjaro, raising over £9000 between them and a great deal of awareness. You can see their outstanding awareness flyer in our blog here.
Tanya Mawer published her plans for her 2016 Walk for ME. “Why do this? Because I WANT, NEED, to get better! I have cared for and watched my daughters suffer with this illness and now have it myself which is limiting my ability not only to care for them but also for myself. I have so many lists of plans I want to fulfill and can’t right now ~ hopefully with the research by Invest in ME I will be able to tick them off in the future. Til then it’s a case of life on hold.” Click here to read and share her full story.
Wonderful ‘willing wellie’ friend to people with ME, Mike Harley, published a great video answering questions on his 28 EU Marathons. He was also asked by The Guardian to write an article on his challenge, and to be a blogger for ‘The Running Bug’. His website URL is now .eu instead of .com. Do check it out and please share widely – http://www.mikeseumarathons.eu/
Makayla Nunn did the first of her 2016 Walks with the Animals .. with an alpaca!
Becca Hams & Ali Head organised a successful Secret Easter 2016 with donations to Invest in ME here. Becca also nominated Invest in ME for the Candis Charity Challenge 2016.
Brain Awareness Week saw the launch of Together Under the Umbrella, an initiative of the European Federation of Neurological Associations (EFNA) which the European ME Alliance (EMEA) joined in 2015. Invest in ME is a founder member and chair of EMEA. ME has been classified as a neurological disorder by the World Health Organisation since 1969. The ‘itis’ in Myalgic (muscle) Encephalomyelitis (inflammation in the brain and spinal cord) points to the immune response involved in ME. The focus of the Invest in ME Research strategy is the role of infection and the immune system, including autoimmunity, whereby the body attacks its own cells or tissues.
We were honoured to publish a guest post by American writer Stephanie Land, and her articles have also featured this month in The Huffington Post and Your Tango. Stephanie is determined to raise awareness since finding out about the severity of her friend’s illness, Myalgic Encephalomyelitis, more commonly called Chronic Fatigue Syndrome in USA, and by most international biomedical researchers as ME/CFS.
We saluted Kathleen McCall as one of the unsung heroes – always unselfish in her time for others, having started the charity Invest in ME, establishing the foundations for a proper strategy of research, and having continued all these years despite being severely affected with ME. A real inspiration on International Women’s Day. Click here to read her message for the 11th Invest in ME Conference June 2016.
Click here to see the new page we created to feature 2016 fundraisers. Whether you’re fundraising or spreading the word you’re helping to fund IiME’s game-changing strategy for biomedical research into ME – and we thank you!
What’s up in April?
Saturday 2nd at 18:30, Caterham, UK: Joanna and her Vintage Violets Charity Catwalk
Sunday 3rd, Thessaloniki, Greece: Mike Harley runs the International Alexander the Great Marathon.
Saturday 9th, Warwickshire, UK: Lee Taylor’s Spring Wolf Run 2016
9th & 10th, Scarborough, UK: Jon Campling at Sci-Fi Scarborough with his charity box for Invest in ME.
Latest totals for Invest in ME Research Funds ..
£480k raised of £520k target for the B-cell / Rituximab Research
£166k raised of £200k target for the Gut Microbiome in ME Research
Please feel free to contact us.
Thank you for your support!
This is such wonderful, appreciated news! My dad got sick 20 yrs ago, then I got sick 18yrs ago. I was 23yrs old. We’re both 90% housebound/ bedridden. I finally just got the diagnosis this past December. My dads grandma, mom also had this disease. His one sister is 100% bedridden, (MSA) can’t move anything. His baby sister passed at only 49yrs old. All of this could have been prevented somewhat, I know my aunt would still be here with us!
Thank you so much for the outreach you’re doing. I will be outspoken about anything…let me know, because I can defiantly talk!
God Bless✝
Tracy, Indiana.
Thank you for your kind support Tracy, and so sorry about your own and your family’s illness. We are mostly house/bedbound too, so we just do what we can online to help spread awareness of the progressive work that is being done to establish tests & treatments for this disease. So any help sharing the links is greatly appreciated, thank you.